Developer News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Hi-Fi Rush is set for its final patch later today, May 15, amid the closure of its developer Tango Gameworks.

Starbreeze has announced today that its CFO Mats Juhl will be appointed as its new interim CEO.

Ubisoft has said its Call of Duty rival XDefiant does not feature skill-based matchmaking in its casual playlist.

really doesn't want fans comparing it to other games as the developers would prefer that everyone just get along and play together. The so-called "Console War" that generally consists of an Xbox and PlayStation supporters arguing for their supremacy of their selected device has waged for years with many within the video game industry have grown tired of the debate. Such was the occassion when one avid player took to social media to contrast the creature-collecting survival game against one of Sony's most recent popular experiences.

Ex-Bandai Namco employee Yoichi Toyosumi has been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement.

I think most would agree that the artist formerly known as Twitter has never been in more need of a thermonuclear cleansing. The Musk era has transformed what was already fondly known as a hellsite into something at once more obnoxious and sadder, whether you're talking about the web3 grifters or the resurgent debate-me cryptofascists or the recommendation algorithm's perceptibly greater enthusiasm for quote-tweet flamebait.

Amazon has commissioned a new Tomb Raider TV series for Prime Video, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge acting as writer and executive producer.

With NieR Re[in]carnation ending its service on April 29th, NieR series producer Yosuke Saito and director Yoko Taro have confirmed they’re working on a new project. Saito teases that it “might be NieR, it might not be NieR.”

Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO was rated in Singapore, and the rating suggests the game is not going to take much longer to release.

Today, Prime Video announced it has ordered a new series based on the iconic Tomb Raider video game franchise as part of a deal between Crystal Dynamics and Amazon MGM Studios. The series will be written and executive produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

After what has probably felt like the longest week ever for Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios, we saw the release of the Polar Patriots Warbond. Unfortunately for Arrowhead, that's brought forth a wave of entirely different problems, as satisfaction with this month's Warbond is at an all-time low.

By Fanny Potkin and Eduardo Baptista

The new SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 headset is the latest addition to the brand’s Nova line of gaming headsets — but this launch comes with a twist.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced that Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino will succeed Jim Ryan as joint PlayStation CEOs.

Developer Atlus has announced that the original version of Shin Megami Tensei 5 and all of its downloadable content (DLC) will be removed from sale on June 13, 2024.

Blizzard has posted development notes on today's changes for the Mountain Thane hero talent tree.

Intel has ended the deployment of its Ponte Vecchio GPU, marking the end of the road for a chip that is considered to be a technical marvel.

Animal Well is one of the hottest games around. It quickly shot to the top of Steam's top-seller chart after it was released to glowing reviews last Thursday.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut arrives on PC this week, and port developer Nixxes has laid out a few additional details about the launch. As we’ve reported, Ghost of Tsushima is the latest Sony-published title to generate controversy for requiring a PlayStation Network sign-in on PC. Granted, GoT only requires PSN on PC for the Legends multiplayer mode, you can play the single-player campaign without it, but the game has still been delisted from Steam in a long list of countries without access to PSN.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ laid-back gameplay has taken the world by storm and shows no sign of slowing down. There’s never been a better time to stay inside and enjoy the leisurely island lifestyle — and people are loving what the title has to offer. But once you’ve burned through your first 40 hours, New Horizons is best played in short bursts. Most people will log in for a few minutes each day, see what’s happening on the island, finish their daily tasks, and quickly log out. While mods can add more variety, sometimes you need a fresh take to really scratch that itch. None of the following suggestions are identical to New Horizons, but they all offer a unique combination of crafting, exploring, and chatting with your NPC neighbors that New Horizons fans are bound to enjoy.

In late January 2023, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Amazon was developing an interconnected Tomb Raider universe made of games, film, and TV.

A new Assassin's Creed Valhalla NVIDIA DLSS 3 mod was released online today, bringing massive performance improvements to the latest main entry in the series developed by Ubisoft.

Dead by Daylight is a game absolutely packed with murderous monsters, both original and licensed from other franchises. The next crossover is a little bit outside of the usual horror wheelhouse — Dead by Daylight is producing a chapter themed around the wildly popular tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons. Vecna, known in-game as The Lich, will be the game’s next Killer. Vecna is joined by a pair of Elven bards, one male and one female, who will serve as the new Survivors.

AFK Journey developers, Lilith Games, have responded to player outcry by reversing their decision to nerf the latest season’s rewards. Ever since they dropped their latest update Song of Strife, there has been an intense community backlash to match the rewards to pre-season levels.

Developer Daniel Benito has just rolled out his latest brain teaser PiKuBo on Android. This new puzzler promises to keep players like you entertained with its unique spin on the classic nonogram puzzle. The developer is known for his previous tile puzzle game Kanji Swipe.

Veteran developers from various studios, including developers from the team behind XCOM, have established a new game development studio, dubbed Midsummer Studios.

A group of former XCOM and Civilisation developers have co-founded a new studio, Midsummer Studios, who plan to “revitalise the life sim genre” with their debut release. The latter doesn’t have a title yet, and is described as “a next-gen Life Sim that emphasizes player-driven narratives, allowing communities to share memorable moments that grow out of the creativity of players themselves.” According to former XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon, it’s “focused on the drama of modern life, where our players will write meaningful stories just by playing, and then share those stories with the world.”

Diablo 4 Season 4: Loot Reborn has begun! And with players' first steps into the game, Blizzard has already told us when Season 4 will end and when Season 5 will begin. Since Season 3 was about a month longer than usual, due to the development time of Season 4, it appears that 'Loot Reborn' will be about a week shorter than in previous Seasons.

Dead by Daylight fans can check out the Dungeons and Dragons chapter starting today, but Behaviour Interactive teased another high-profile crossover during an anniversary showcase on Tuesday. A Castlevania chapter is on the way to DbD. There aren't any details yet about what that will include, but you just might get to play as Alucard or Simon Belmont in the fog. Behaviour plans to divulge more info about the Castlevania tie-up, which will arrive later this year, in August.

Google I/O 2024: Google is integrating its Gemini AI into more of its products, with Google Photos being the latest to receive this enhancement. At the I/O developer conference, CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new feature called Ask Photos. This tool will help users locate specific images in their gallery using voice and text prompts.

Dead by Daylight turns eight today, and to celebrate the milestone, Behaviour Interactive held its anniversary stream to share new details on updates headed to the asymmetrical horror game. This includes an official reveal of a new game mode, details on the previously teased D&D chapter, and updates on its upcoming spinoff projects.

The leader of the Brazilian Amazon's Huni Kui people remains hopeful that a planned United Nations treaty will advance the fight against biopiracy: the pillaging of traditional knowledge and genetic resources.

Dead by Daylight's 8th Anniversary stream has revealed a truck load of exciting content coming to the title over the next year, including crossovers with Dungeons & Dragons and Castlevania.

has finally launched worldwide, with an official roadmap for upcoming content updates. Based on the anime and manhwa, follows an early arc in Sung Jinwoo's discovery of his unique abilities, and first delves into the world of high-rank hunting. But it doesn't cover the whole story quite yet, and at least a few characters are still missing from .

Behaviour Interactive is committed to growing Dead by Daylight as a franchise. That much is clear given that three spinoff games from the multiplayer horror hit were shown off during a live stream today. One of them is even out now.

is developer Supergiant Games' follow-up to 2020's influential and adored roguelike, and to say that expectations are high would be something of an understatement. It's hard to look at a successful roguelike in the wake of and not find some of its fingerprints somewhere in the game's approach, whether it's careful attention paid to world design or an upgrade system that's adjacent to Boons from the the gods of Olympus. Character design, soundtrack, deep mechanics, customizable runs — the original had it all and then some, and still features as a genre touchstone for innovation.

Developer 1M Bits Horde and Meta Publishing (who also published Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous) are announcing Nested Lands, a new medieval-set, "brutally challenging" multiplayer survival RPG in which the world has been ravaged by a plague. Check out the first trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below.

This week, Microsoft and Bethesda announced that they would be closing down multiple game development studios under their umbrella. These include Alpha Dog Games, maker of Mighty Doom, and Arkane Austin, developer of the disastrous Redfall among others. In the gaming industry, the conventional wisdom has long been held that bad games sink you and great games save you, which would lead many to drawing an unfortunate line between Redfall’s reception and Arkane Austin’s closure — but immediately stops supporting that conclusion when you get to Tango Gameworks.

A team of veteran developers behind games such as Sid Meier’s Civilization, XCOM, and The Sims have announced the establishment of Midsummer Studios, as well as teased its in-development “next-generation entry” to the life simulation genre.

Two former Firaxis developers have founded a new studio, Midsummer. The former director of the XCOM series, Jake Soloman, is CEO of the new studio, having left Firaxis last year.

Helldivers 2's latest update adds PSN support to PC, letting players on Steam link their accounts. However, unlike the initial proposition, the update makes this optional, so you can keep playing on PC without PSN if you don't want to make an account.

Game developer Jake Solomon first made a name for himself by helming Firaxis’ revival of XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. In an interview, Solomon told Digital Trends that he has no problem being known as “the XCOM guy,” and he joked that there is a world where he could see himself dying during a playtest of XCOM 17. But after Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Solomon wanted something different.

Just over a year ago, Tango Gameworks and Xbox released Hi-Fi Rush, a musical delight that seemed to come out of nowhere. Hi-Fi Rush received almost universal acclaim – it was wholly unique, polished, and tightly paced. It was also like nothing developer Tango Gameworks had ever made before, and seemingly made explicitly for Xbox Game Pass. It followed closely in the footsteps of games like Psychonauts 2 and Pentiment, neither of which match the profile of the big, blockbuster AAAs that move millions upon millions of copies, and yet they were beloved anyway. Taken as a whole, they lent credibility and prestige to Xbox Game Pass as an accessible library of well-supported, beautifully crafted art.

Along with revealing sales numbers for Helldivers 2, Sony announced that the PlayStation 5 has reached 59.3 million worldwide shipments as of March 31st, 2024. During the three months, it shipped 4.5 million consoles, up from 54.8 million in the last quarter but down from the same quarter of the previous year.

Kim Kardashian was already more than a household name in 2013. The Kardashian name (hers, specifically) was equivalent with “celebrity” — or “notoriety,” depending on who was saying it. But there was one more step toward international fame that she wasn’t so sure about: whether she wanted to become a video game character.

The Sims is about to get even more competition. A new studio co-founded by Jake Solomon, the veteran game designer behind XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, will challenge Maxis’ enduring and dominant life simulation game series with a new, still-untitled game that focuses on “the drama of modern life.”

Crimson Desert might be nearing its release window at long last. The game was originally announced by Pearl Abyss (the South Korean developer behind Black Desert) at G-Star 2019 alongside DokeV and PLAN 8.

It's only been out three months, but Sony has revealed that everyone's favorite extraction shooter has become the fastest-selling PlayStation game ever.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 just passed a significant development milestone: Tom McKay, the actor behind main character Henry, has wrapped dialogue recording after a staggering 508 hours in the studio across 127 sessions.

Game developers are sharing the delightful chaos that ensues when you take a random line of code in a video game and crank it up to 1,000.

Braid, the popular puzzle platformer, has finally made the much-awaited comeback with its Anniversary Edition. Originally slated for April 30th, Braid Anniversary Edition has launched on Android, iOS, PC and consoles today. It’s developed by Thekla and published by Netflix, and if you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can dive into it for free!

PlayStation’s first half of 2024 has been quietly successful without necessarily setting the world alight. Helldivers 2 proved a surprise megahit in both a critical and commercial sense, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is one of the best RPGs of the year so far – even if it hasn’t quite sold the number of copies both Square Enix and Sony may have been hoping for – and, as recently as a few weeks ago, both Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade launched, bringing with them exciting brands of sharp action.

Prison Architect 2 developer Double Eleven and publisher Paradox Interactive are parting ways after failing to come to a new commercial agreement for a continued partnership. Prison Architect 2 is still set to release later this year in September, with new developer Kokku taking over.

I love the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, but for a long time now it feels like I’m a fan of everything but the actual video games. Nep Nep and her crew of humanised game-console gals are unforgettably hilarious and consistently endearing, but there’s been nothing consistent about the Neptunia video games as of late. Each one has been a standalone spinoff adventure with their own canon and their own gameplay – and rather than building off the previous games to improve and expand, each one seeks to rebuild the wheel and comes out equally rough as a result. Despite lifting a lot of the combat and gameplay from its predecessor, Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters, the same issues persist with Neptunia Game Maker (R)evolution.

One need only take to their social media platform of choice to gauge the popularity of publishers among modern gamers. Some are bemoaned for crippling previously successful studios with the imposition of unwanted live service models, while others are lamented for implementing unpopular matchmaking algorithms that prioritise retention over connection quality or fair team composition. Certainly, while most big studios can boast of healthy fan support (look at the devotion enjoyed by From Software or Larian Studios, for instance), you don’t come across many vocal EA or Ubisoft fanboys.

Games companies in the UK can now enter the GamesIndustry.biz Best Places To Work Awards 2023.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SEI) has announced a new leadership structure that puts two people in charge of different parts of its business. Hideaki Nishino, who is currently serving as the SVP for the Platform Experience Group, will become the CEO of SIE's Platform Business Group starting on June 1. On the same day, Hermen Hulst will take on the role of CEO for SIE's Studio Business Group after serving as SVP and Head of PlayStation Studios.

When Helldivers 2 introduces sweeping balancing changes or new stratagems, it does so on the live build. So, if nerfs are too harsh or buffs too strong, the community has to wait for the next patch to address concerns.

OpenAI has introduced GPT-4o, the latest and most sophisticated iteration of its AI model, designed to make digital interactions feel remarkably human. This new update aims to enhance the user experience significantly, bringing advanced capabilities to a broader audience.

Shortly after generative AI became the hottest topic in pretty much every industry, Inworld started making headlines in 2023 with its Character Engine technology that was first implemented in a series of PC games (Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Grand Theft Auto V) by modder Bloc.

After completing the Hunt for the Harbinger questline, players are able to stay awhile and listen to Magister Umbric discuss Alleria Windrunner's absence with the Void Elves — some are upset that she won't be leading them for a time.

Though Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass has maintained a steady presence in the industry as one of its most prominent subscription services, its success might not last. From its original launch in 2017, Game Pass has seen significant growth, with an ever-expanding library of games that have come to boast some of the biggest releases in the industry — even highly-anticipated titles like and, both of which made their way to Game Pass day one of their respective release dates. However, as the service's growth stalls, its future may be uncertain.

has finally managed to redeem itself by landing one of the most coveted titles in the video game industry. It's no secret that when CD Projekt Red's ambitious open-world RPG first launched in 2020 it was an unmitigated disaster defined by its broken state that was riddled with bugs, glitches, and incomplete content. Yet over the last three and a half years, the developer has been dedicated to salvaging the game, releasing plenty of post-launch updates that not only fixed many issues but fundamentally improved several problematic gameplay mechanics.

Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino will jointly succeed Jim Ryan as the CEOs of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Rumors that a new Doom game is on the horizon are heating up thanks in part to a new trademark filing (via Eurogamer).

Elden Ring developer FromSoftware has unveiled a new Bloodborne-like enemy that is set to appear in next month’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and fans are already talking about how it will terrorize fellow Tarnished.

Before the Fallout 3 as we know it was released, original developer Black Isle Studios was working on its own sequel, codenamed Van Buren. Like the first two games, it was an isometric RPG, but it was cancelled after Interplay sold the IP to Bethesda.

The team behind Marvel Rivals has apologised for seeking to restrict negative coverage of the game from content creators.

Ron Gilbert is developing another game, and its premise is extremely exciting. Gilbert, who most famously created Monkey Island, is working on a retro RPG that he describes as "Classic Zelda meets Diablo meets Thimbleweed Park."

It looks like Red Dead Redemption is finally headed to the PC, as a new update for Rockstar's launcher has included a file with a description of the title, as well as its zombie DLC, Undead Nightmare.

In a recent interview with GamesBeat, Embracer Freegroup CEO Lee Guinchard shed some light on the company’s plans with J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. The interview goes in depth about the history of games like Middle Earth and Guinchard’s long career in the games industry – read the entire interview through here.

It's officially been one whole year since the release of . Nintendo's sequel to the immensely popular was in the unenviable position of having to follow up one of the most culturally impactful video game releases in the medium's history. As one of the best open-world action RPGs, stands among its peers as one of the most fully realized interpretations of the form — but so does, and the latter revolutionized what was considered possible in development scope.

Following their recent Developer Update, Blizzard released updated patch notes highlighting many of the new changes for Season 4, but here's something you may have missed — Unique items can drop for players much earlier, and the minimum character level required to equip Sacred and Ancestral items will be drastically reduced in Season 4: Loot Reborn! Season 4 Patch Notes 1.4.0

Capcom is reportedly working on a remake of the first Resident Evil game, just in time for the series' 30th anniversary. If it launches in time for the big day, that would make it a 2026 release, meaning we might have a bit of a wait in between remake projects this time around.

The new mobile game Winning Derby from Hong Kong is coming under fire for alleged plagiarism from the well-liked Japanese game Jockey Girl Pretty Derby. Players of both the games have noted parallels in the character designs, visual style, and gameplay.

You must have heard already that Supercell, the company behind hit titles like Clash of Clans, Clash Royale and Squad Busters, is busy making a new monster-hunting game mo.co. It’s in its early development stage and had players from the United States participate in an open beta in October 2023. Now, they just gave us a sneak peek into what’s cooking in the latest mo.co Key Portal Insights update.

The Joker is coming to MultiVersus as part of the fighting game’s relaunch later this month, and actor Mark Hamill will reprise his role as the Clown Prince of Crime for the occasion. Developer Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games showed off Joker in a new gameplay trailer that contains another fun surprise: The Powerpuff Girls are coming to MultiVersus as well.

Cheats and console commands can be extremely useful when facing husks and Reapers in, but unfortunately, the game blocks access to the developer console by default. In the original trilogy, the console had many useful functions, including starting the game with tons of credits for purchasing Spectre gear and tweaking Commander Shepard's morality points. In, players now need mods to access the console.

Warner Bros has U-turned on a decision to delist indie games previously published by Adult Swim.

Hi everyone! It’s been just over a year since we released Burning Shores, the expansion to Horizon Forbidden West on PS5, and with it, we challenged you with one of our most elaborate boss battles to date! We talked to our developers at Guerrilla to find out about the ideation and creation process of this epic fight.